Fixing Food On A Starving Planet
16 Oct 2011
How we farm and how we eat may prove to be one of the largest issues of our time. There seems to be a lot of deep thinking around this topic, and I believe the multi-dimensional problem of climate change reaches into the core of why we need a realignment of the inequalities in our food system – both locally and globally.
How do we fix food on a warming planet? Can we find a solution that will not cause worse damage and more starvation?
Planet Food
In regards to climate change, agriculture is a double-edge sword. It’s a sector of our society that is adversely affected by environmental changes. Yet our global food system is one of the greatest contributors to climate change.
“Climate change, in turn, is contributing to rising rates of hunger and food insecurity. As much as 1/3 of greenhouse gas emissions come from the food system.” ~ Slow Food
Pollutants such as pesticides (insecticides and herbicides) sprayed on our food, and injected into the soil, are landing on our plates. We have fumigants in our strawberries, growth inhibitors sprayed on our potatoes, hazardous chemicals like mercury swimming in our fish, and antibiotics pumped into our livestock. Even chocolate and peanut butter are threatened by global warming.
Agriculture has the ability to pollute the environment and make us sick. It also poses potential solutions as we create smarter food alternatives for our families. Growing chemical-free food, and shopping locally can help push back against a broken food system.
But, what about our global community? How can we worry about eating organic spinach when people are dying of malnutrion?
Starving Planet
Changes in climate have exasperated the problem of famine.
“Higher temperatures and changes in precipitation result in pressure on yields from important crops in much of the world…Biological impacts on crop yields work through the economic system resulting in reduced production, higher crop and meat prices, and a reduction in cereal consumption. This reduction means reduced calorie intake and increased childhood malnutrition.” ~ Scientific American
I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject, as I’ve just scratched the surface of the issue of food. To create a cleaner plate, the fix won’t just happen organically. As our planet grows warmer, we are going to need to do something. I believe we’ll need to start voting with our stomachs, and healing with our hearts.
Here’s one way to start…
Judith Ross
Oct 16, 2011 @ 11:01:52
Thanks for this post. It has raised my awareness. I have been so focused on buying organic and local food and the harm that pesticides cause our environment, and our health, that it has pushed the much more urgent issue of famine to the periphery.
Mitch Mitchell
Oct 16, 2011 @ 18:51:49
I’m participating in Blog Action Day as well and you take on food is a good one. I always assume we’ll have plenty to eat because there really is food everywhere, but if the environment affects great changes it will definitely have to change how we eat and what we eat. Frankly I’m not ready go there yet; I like to eat what I like to eat. And I’d love to help others who can’t get food to eat as well.
Way too many causes to deal with; it’s a shame.
Katy
Oct 16, 2011 @ 19:46:45
Thanks for this post, exploring the connections between food, climate change, and famine. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the interconnectedness of environmental issues and their effects on human health. We’ve got to see all of these as connected in a deep way– not as separate issues, or causes.
Lori Popkewitz Alper
Oct 17, 2011 @ 13:51:52
You raise such important issues and place much needed perspective on this discussion of food. While many of us are concerned about GMOs, pesticides and buying only organic foods (these are real issues) there’s a larger issue looming: starvation and hunger. As Katy mentioned-these issues are interconnected and we must start thinking of them as a whole. Thanks for bringing awareness to the complicated issues surrounding food, global warming and famine.
Ronnie
Oct 18, 2011 @ 08:45:11
Yes, I’m starting to be more and more aware of the connections between climate change and other global woes, or as Mitch puts it, “too many causes.”
All of you are writers, and it seems to be our time to get the word out. Keep up the fine work you do, Judith, Mitch, Katy and Lori!
Breastfeeding Diet | Pregnancy Diet
Apr 18, 2012 @ 19:12:41
[...] For me, one of the things that was so great about being pregnant was that you could eat a lot. While pregnant, I worried some about what I should or shouldn’t eat; this was not the time of our mothers, when smoking and drinking were the norm in pregnancy. It’s amazing we all turned out as well as we did. My daughters were born a little over twenty years ago, and public awareness about what to eat while pregnant was beginning to take hold. We knew not to eat too much fish and not to drink alcohol. With pesticide dangers, arsenic in chicken, and the latest warnings about early puberty being linked to hormone disrupters from food and skincare products, the hyper-awareness of parents today is so important. It reflects a pervasive danger for our unborn children, and for ourselves in the nation’s food supply. [...]